THE people’s campaign to keep a North Yorkshire weekend bus service moved into top gear as leaflets were delivered to villages along its route.

The No 42 service to York and Selby which ran on Friday and Saturday nights through Cawood, Wistow, Kelfield, Stillingfleet and Naburn, was cut when North Yorkshire County Council withdrew funding from service provider Arriva.

Following an appeal from the parish councils, a six-month pilot scheme to restore the service has been launched, and the councils have distributed leaflets with the schedules and details to 90 per cent of all the houses in their villages.

Coun John Cattanach, pictured, who co-ordinated the deal to save the evening service, said: “It was important to publicise that the service had been retained.

“I was so lucky in knowing a graphic artist, Karen Vipass, who lives in Cawood, and who was willing to design the leaflet for no fee. She produces all the artwork for the Cawood Craft Festival and is the first to help in village matters.”

All evening, Sunday and bank holiday bus services within North Yorkshire were cut by the county council due to a reduction in Government funding, but the cost of the No 42 service has been underwritten by the parish councils and an agreement with Arriva and the council, for the next six months.

The leaflets will be distributed along the route over the next fortnight and it is hoped that if passenger numbers increase, then Arriva, City of York Council and North Yorkshire County Council will consider reintroducing the Sunday and bank holiday service.

Karen said: “We need to use our buses more, but how can we do that if the services don’t exist? I want do my bit to ensure that these services survive and in the future, expand.”

Coun Chris Chittock, of Cawood Parish Council, told The Press in April: “I’m very confident that we can prove that this is viable and will be valuable.”